Low-cost airline adds a new route from Miami to Dominican Republic. Here are details

More flights will be taking off between South Florida and the Dominican Republic.

Less than a month after tickets went on sale for inaugural non-stop flights between Miami International Airport and Santo Domingo, the Dominican low-cost airline Arajet is making tickets available for a second route: from MIA to Punta Cana.

Here’s what to know:

When does the new Arajet flight start?

Arajet is adding six nonstop flights a week between Miami and Punta Cana. They will start on June 13 and run daily except Wednesdays, the company announced on Monday, Feb. 10. Tickets are on sale now.

What is the fare?

▪ Arajet’s website on Sunday listed a one-way ticket on July 1 from MIA to Punta Cana for $174 with a return on July 8 for $206. Both fares include taxes and fees.

▪ As part of the new service launch, Arajet has a promotion of up to 50% off the base fare — excluding taxes and fees — for two people until Feb. 16. Use the promo code “LOVE2025” on the carrier’s website. This applies to the direct flights between MIA and Santo Domingo or Punta Cana and connecting flights to one of 14 Latin America destinations including Bogotá, Buenos Aires and Kingston.

What type of plane for the new flights?

Arajet will fly new Boeing 737 Max 8 planes, with a capacity of 185 passengers. Cabins will be mostly economy, although some seats will have extra legroom and cost more.

What are details on the Santo Domingo flights?

In January, the carrier put on sale non-stop flights between Miami International Airport and Las Américas International Airport in Santo Domingo. Those flights will operate four times a week and starting April 11. More flights will likely be added later in the year, the company said in a statement then.

The airline received U.S. government approval to start selling tickets on Jan. 17.

Are there future routes planned?

Arajet expects to also start flights between New York and Santo Domingo or Punta Cana although the airline hadn’t finalized which airport or city when Manuel Luna, chief communications officer for the carrier, spoke with the Miami Herald in December. Additionally, the airline expects to launch non-stop flights between San Juan, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

What does this mean for U.S. and Dominican tourism?

The long-awaited, initial flights from MIA are part of a larger opening between the Dominican Republic and the U.S., and a potential boon for travelers and the tourism industry.

They come after the Dominican carrier received U.S. Department of Transportation approval in December as part of an agreement between the U.S. and the Caribbean country that makes it easier for airlines to fly in and out of each country.

“This agreement with the Dominican Republic is a step forward in liberalizing the international civil aviation sector in the Western Hemisphere,” the State Department said in a statement.

Arajet’s expansion come as tourism in the Dominican Republic is breaking records.

In 2023, the DR received over 10 million tourists by land and sea, a high, according to the newspaper Dominican Today. That number reached 11.2 million in 2024, another record, according to the same media outlet.

In the first nine months of 2024, the country saw about 8.4 million visitors, a record for that period and 55% higher than January through September in 2019, Dominican Today reported.

That growth could get turbocharged with American Airlines’ daily flights between MIA and La Romana, which started Dec. 5 with a 128-passenger Airbus A319.

The Dominican Republic’s ties with South Florida are strengthening as the Caribbean country keeps growing. And South Florida has been a big beneficiary of the growth.

In 2022 and 2023, the Dominican Republic was MIA’s third largest source of international passengers, behind only Colombia and Mexico. This year the number is increasing.

Midway through 2024, the Dominican Republic was on pace to provide 1.7 million travelers at MIA, according to Greg Chin, communications director for the Miami-Dade Aviation Department. That would be 36% more than the 1.25 million travelers in 2023, according to official figures kept by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Can this help baseball in Asia?

Another possible beneficiary from the increased flights is Japan, which keeps a consulate in Miami and is actively promoting increased business with the 305.

Japan’s professional baseball league recruits heavily from the Dominican Republic. Hiroshima Toyo Carp, a Japanese team, has a baseball academy in the DR.

“We are very keen to know the young talent in that area,” Kazuhiro Nakai, consul general of Japan in Miami, told the Miami Herald on Nov. 1, 2023, when he still served that role. He emphasized the importance of the DR as a source of baseball talent.

What about other travel destinations?

Arajet’s new flights could also be a boon for places beyond the Dominican Republic and travelers looking to get there.

You can now book flights from MIA to nine locations in the Caribbean, Central America and South America if you’re willing to connect in Santo Domingo. Those places include Aruba, Bogotá, San Salvador and Mexico City.

Arajet transported more than 1.2 million passengers in 2024 and expects that to increase to 1.7 million in 2025.

The carrier’s two bases are in Santo Domingo and Punta Cana.

This story was originally published February 10, 2025 at 5:58 AM.